Evaporator for refrigerators



July 30, 1935. L, D WRI HT' 2,009,722

EVAPORATOR FOR REFRIGERATORS Filed Jan. 25, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2/ M I IN VENTOR 5- L'Ec D WmqH-r. J m; M 6 A TTORNEY July 30, 1935. L, WRIGHT 2,009,722

EVAPORATOR FOR REFRIGERAT""- Filed Jan. 25, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR LE D. WE\G{HT.

' a, A M

.4 TTORNE y Patented July 30, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Leo D. Wright, Mansfiel inghouse Electric & East Pittsburgh, sylvania d, Ohio, assignor to West- Manufacturing Company, Pa., a corporation of Penn- Application January 23, 1933, Serial No. 653,130 6 Claims. (01'. 62126) My invention relates to an evaporator or cooling unit of refrigeration apparatus, more particularly to an evaporator of the welded sheet-metal type, and to the method of manufacturing the same.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved evaporator.

Another object is to provide an inexpensive and strong evaporator of the above-mentioned type.

A further object is to provide a more reliable evaporator.

Still another object is to provide a simple and improved method for manufacturing the same, thereby to reduce the cost of manufacture.

I accomplish the above objects of my invention generally, in one preferred form thereof, by folding a single sheet. of metal upon itself to form juxtaposed walls and then bending the folded sheet in box-like shape to form a freezing chamber defined by the inner wall, and a space for the circulation of refrigerant between the inner and outer juxtaposed walls. The walls are joined togetherat their meeting edges to provide a sealed refrigerant containing space and to maintain the freezing chamber in its desired shape.

These and other objects 'are effected by my invention as'will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a processed blank formed of a single sheet of metal and provided with corrugations, bump supports for ice. trays and segmental header portions;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the metal sheet shown in Fig. 1, taken on line 1I-II thereof;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the metal sheet shown in Fig. 1 taken on line IH-III thereof;

Fig. 4 is a view of the section of the metal sheet shown in Fig. 2, partly bent in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a broken plan view of one half of the metal sheet shown partially bent in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a broken plan view of the other half of the metal sheet shown partially bent in Fig. 4;

' Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the assembly formed by the sheet shown in Fig. 4, fully bent or doubled to form juxtaposed'walls;

I Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the doubled metal sheet taken on line VI1I-VIII of Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a broken enlarged sectional view of the finished evaporator, taken on line IX-IX of Fig. 11; Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the doubled sheet-shown in Figs. 7 and 8 after it has been substantially one half thereof, and

joined at meeting edges and between corrugations, and partially bent to form a freezing compartment;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a completed evaporator constructed in accordance with one embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 12 is a front view of a header end member utilized to close the cylindrical header shown in the evaporator in Fig. 11; and,

Fig. 13 is a sectional view of the header end member taken on line XIIIX[II of Fig. 12.

Referring specifically to the drawings for a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of my invention, numeral I designates a single sheet of metal provided with corrugations 2 covering bump supports 3 for supporting ice trays in portions of the other half thereof, both of which protrude from the same side of the sheet, whereby the other side of the sheet presents substantially flat surfaces. The sheet I is also provided with four segmental header portions 4, 5, 6 and 1 disposed perpendicular to the corrugations 2, and herein shown as quarter circles. The segmental header portions 4, 5, 6, and I are arranged two on each of two ends of the sheet I, and are spaced apart on each end as shown at 8. The corrugations 2 extend a sufficient distance so that they enter the segmental header portions 4 and 5, which portions are also each provided with small notches 9 and ID for a purpose hereinafter described.

Header end members II are provided as shown in Figs. 11, 12 and 13, and may be of any desired configuration.

In manufacturing the evaporator, a sheet of metal of suitable size and shape is deformed, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, to provide the corrugations 2, the bump supports 3, and the quadrant segmental header portions 4, 5, 8, and 1, the notches 9 and I0 being provided in the header portions 4 and 5. The quadrant header portions at each end of the sheet are spaced apart by an fold portion extends along the iiotted line I4 of Fig. 1. One side of the sheet I, shown at H, extends a greater distance from the segmental header portions than the other side I8 of the sheet I.

Referring now to Figs. 4 to 9, inclusive, the sheet I is doubled along the fold portion In in such a manner that the flat surfaces of the sheet are brought together, and the corrugations 2 and bump supports 3 are on the exterior, as shown in Figs. 4 and '7. The sheet I is doubled around a wire I 3, to facilitate the formation of a rounded edge or bead at 16. When the sheet is fully intermediate fold portion III of the sheet I, which doubled, as shown in Figs. '7 and 8, the side ll of the sheet is bent at l2 around the wire l5, as shown in Figs. '7 and 9 so as to provide a rounded edge or head I! opposite to the edge l6. Thereafter, the side edge II' is welded as shown at l9, to the edge H3. The resultant assembly, therefore, comprises two juxtaposed sheet portions la and lb having corrugations 2 and bump supporfi 3, respectively, therein, and extending outwardly therefrom, the sheet portions being joined at the edge opposite to the doubled edge IS. The sheet portions Ia. and lb are joined together between the corrugations 2 preferably by welding, to form refrigerant containing spaces or passages 2|. The sheet I, after it is doubled, forms half circular portions 22 and 23 from the complemental segmental header portions 4 and 6, 5 and I, respectively, as shown in Fig. 8. As shown in Figs. 8 and 10, the refrigerant containing passages 2| communicate with thehalf circular portions 22 and 23.

The assembly is then bent to form the article shown in Figs. 10 and 11, the inner shell being formed by the sheet portion and the outer shell being formed by the sheet portion. The edges of the semi-cylindrical portions 22 and 23 are joined to form the header 24 having all the refrigerant spaces or passages 2| communicating therewith. The resultant construction constitutes anevaporator whose inner wall, formed by the sheet portion lb, defines a freezing chamber 25 with the passages 2| extending thereabout. It will be seen that the header 24 is an integral part of the walls la and lb which form the refrigerant containing spaces or passages 2|, and that it is an enlargement of the refrigerant containing space. The evaporator, including the cylindrical portion of the header, is, therefore, formed of a single sheet of material bent to the desired form and having its meeting edges joined together.

When the portions 22 and 23 are brought together to form the full cylinder 24-, the notches 9 and I0 meet and form openings 26 for the insertion of suitable inlet and discharge conduits (not shown). The header end members II are joined at each end of the cylinder 24 to close the header and complete the apparatus. The evaporator may then be coated with any suitable material, such as porcelain enamel.

From the above description, it will be seen that I have provided an evaporator constructed of a single sheet of metal. My novel evaporator is stronger and more reliable in that the sheet portions la and lb are integral at the edge It forming one end of the evaporator. The method of manufacturing the evaporator is simpler and requires less welding, thereby reducing the cost of manufacture.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire therefore, that only such limitations shall beplaced thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:-

1. The method of manufacturing a sheet metal evaporator which comprises providing .a single unbroken sheet of metal with segmental header portions integral therewith, doubling said sheet, bending the doubled sheet to form a freezing compartment so that edges of the segmental header portions meet, and joining the meeting edges of the sheet including the portion thereof which forms the header.

2-. The method of manufacturing a sheet metal evaporator which comprises providing a single sheet of metal with corrugations on substantially one half thereof and two substantially quarter circular portions at two of the opposed ends of the sheet and arranged normally to the corrugations, the interior hollows of the corrugations communicating with the interior of the quarter circular portions associated with said half of the sheet; forming an assembly by doubling the sheet near its center and parallel to the corrugations, whereby substantially half circular portions are formed from the quarter circular portions, and joining the sheet at its meeting edges opposite the fold and between the corrugations after doubling; bending the assembly to form a freezing chamber in such a manner that the corrugations extend thereabout and so that the half circular portions meet; and joining the half circular portions together at their meeting edges to form a cylindrical header shell.

3. The method of manufacturing an evaporator from a single sheet of metal comprising forming quarter-cylindrical header portions two at each end of the sheet, folding the sheet upon itself along a longitudinal fold located between the two header portions at each end to provide a pair of sheet portions in face-to-face relation and a semicylindrical header portion at each end, bending the doubled sheet into loop form and joining the meeting edges of the semi-cylindrical header portions to form a substantially cylindrical header portion. I I 4. A sheet metal evaporator formed from a single substantially rectangular sheet of material comprising inner and outer walls bent to form a cooling chamber and connected by an integral fold portion at one edge of the evaporator, refrigerant circulating passages between said walls, a plurality of arcuate portions for forming header means provided at some of the ends of the sheet which extend substantially at right angles to the fold portion, and welded connections between adjacent open edges of the cooling chamber and header means.

5. The method of man facturing a sheet metal evaporator which comprises providing a single substantially rectangular sheet of metal with corrugations on substantially one-half thereof and two substantially arcuate portions at two of the opposed edges of the sheet and arranged normally to the corrugations, the interior hollows of the corrugations communicating with the interior of the arcuate portions associated with said ball of the sheet; forming an assembly by doubling the sheet near its center and substantially parallel to the corrugations, whereby header means are formed from the arcuate portions, joining the sheet at its meeting edges opposite the fold and between the corrugations after doubling; bending the assembly to form a freezing chamber in such a manner that the corrugations extend thereabout, and welding together the adjacent edges of the header me 6. The method of manufacturing a sheet metal evaporator which comprises providing a single substantially rectangular sheet of metal with corrugations on one-half thereof and header portions at one of the edges of both halves of the sheet, said header portions being arranged normally to the corrugations and the interior hollows of at least some of the corrugations communicating with the interior of the header portion in the associated half of the sheet; forming after doubling; bending the sheets to form horian assembly by doubling the sheet near its center zontal and vertical portions with horizontally and and substantially parallel to the corrugations, vertically extending corrugations, respectively,

whereby header means are formed by the header therein. Y 5 portions; joining the sheet at its meeting edges; LEO D. WRIGHT. 6

opposite the fold and between thefcorrugations 

